The 2010 New York Film Festival | Pedro Peirano, Sebastián Silva and OLD CATS

Pedro Peirano and Sebastián Silva were at The Walter Reade Theater today to discuss their new film Old Cats, the story of an ailing mother who is forced to confront her manipulative daughter within the confies of the family's small, elegant apartment. The movie is really great, an extension of the female claustrophobia of Silva's The Maid (which won the 2009 Best Narrative Feature Jury Prize at my very own Sarasota Film Festival), and full of really moving and funny performances from three brilliant Chilean actresses, each of whom is seemingly on another planet from the others. Peirano and Silva use the tight space to excellent advantage, creating tension and drama by boxing their characters in, ratcheting up the emotional tension and then, suddenly, unleashing the family on the outside world. It is a must-see and, despite Silva's refusal of a "Chilean cinema" when I asked him about his feelings during the press conference, marks yet another terrific film from Chile (that makes three of them in the last month), a sign that the government expansion of its investment in cinema is certainly paying off. As I have been doing these past few weeks, I stuck around after the press conference and snapped a picture; nice to see young filmmakers working with this level of craft, storytelling and visual acumen. If you're in New York this weekend, try to catch the film's screenings at the New York Film Festival. It's a trip worth making.